The Tribune

By ADRIAN GIBSON

ajbahama@hotmail.com

THERE is a culture of criminality that is alive and well and pervasive in The Bahamas. It transcends the fabric of our nation.

Given that adherence to the law is only a reasonable option when people believe that they would likely be caught – and if such people believe that they will be caught – adherence to the law is relative.

Such a mindset goes to the root of why two police officers were this week fired and convicted of stealing cheap phones; it speaks to how certain corrupt customs officers can turn a blind eye and collect tips which result in millions of dollars of leakage and lost revenue annually. Rather than being honest, many persons charged with protecting our interests - whether in law enforcement, politics or otherwise - abuse us, they take and do all that they can get away with. There is no accountability.

On Monday, ex-Constables Ricardo Bain, 44, and Herman Pinder, 31, appeared before Magistrate Andrew Forbes to face stealing and receiving charges stemming from a break-in at the Bahamas Telecommunications Company’s JFK location in the RND West Plaza. Their court appearance came within hours of their dismissal from the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF). Bain and Pinder served 26 and seven years respectively on the force.

I know the owners of that franchise store; they are my good friends. I could hear the pain in their voices as they told me what happened and we discussed the incident on Friday, Saturday and Sunday past. I cannot imagine calling upon the police for assistance only to have them further rob me.

If my friends did not have hidden cameras installed on their premises, this matter may have not ended as it did. And what was this for? So that they could stuff their bosoms with three Samsung J1A cell phones worth $435! What does this mean for the police and the reputation of the police? Have such incidents happened before?

I have recently found myself on the opposite end of overreaching and ruthless conduct by the police. The details of that will emerge in the coming days and weeks. But I am now ever more vigilant and can more readily empathise with those persons who speak about excessive behaviour by some police officers, about this false notion on the part of certain rogue officers that they are above the law and can do whatever they want.

I often wonder if officers are ever taught the Constitution in the police college. Perhaps then, they would understand the fundamental rights enshrined within it and guaranteed to all Bahamians. A part of the problem with the police is that there are many officers who are simply there to have a job and a pay cheque; many of them no longer love policing or see it as a career. There are many officers who see their ability to don taxpayers’ uniforms and carry guns as a licence to mistreat, disrespect and exploit the public. No police officer is above the law.

I have a lot of friends and family members who are police officers. Up to 50 per cent of my closest friends are current or former officers. I once considered becoming a policeman after being asked to join the force by then commissioner Paul Farquharson (he also spoke at our high school graduation in Long Island in 2001, where I was valedictorian). So, the police are truly my friends.

There are many decent, considerate, reasonable officers who truly aspire to detect, protect and serve. These officers are passionate about their chosen career. Many policemen and women are upstanding Bahamians who love their countrymen, their country and strive to abide within the realm of the law.

And then there are those who are corrupt gangsters in uniforms.

Criminality amongst the ranks of the RBPF is becoming blatant, so much so that it is persistently infringing upon the Constitutional rights of Bahamians. How many police officers have been fired over the last year? How many recruits have been booted out of the police college?

Over time, the RBPF has been accused of near systemic patterns of police brutality, verbal abuse and outright misconduct, clearly in violation of citizens’ rights. I experienced this first hand and so I know that it is true.

One can only assume that such incidents are occurring due to the shoddy vetting procedures when recruiting officers, and the hiring of immature, undisciplined officers (some of whom are uneducated thugs). Our society has been inundated with allegations of police brutality where certain officers are accused of having cultivated an air of terror and having displayed vile, sadistic behaviour that has laid bare the flaws in police recruitment and training as well as revealed a lack of professionalism. That being said, there are still some who are sincere, hardworking officers whose professionalism is second to none.

A few years ago, 25-year-old Jamie Smith and 21-year-old Aaron Rolle died while in police custody. According to the autopsy reports, Smith died from asphyxiation and Rolle from blunt force trauma.

I am no defender of the criminal element – in fact, I believe that if one does the crime, he should do the time and/or get his just desserts – but injustice and a lack of accountability is unacceptable.

In August 2007, three cases heard in the Supreme Court - two murders and an armed robbery - were tossed out after judges instructed jurors not to return guilty verdicts because it was determined that the confession statements of the accused were obtained unlawfully and under duress.

The beating of Desmond Key by police led to him falling into a coma and ultimately dying. The killing of Andros native Kenneth Russell (in September 2007) by a policeman raised many questions about the police’s use of force and so on.

In 2009, the suspicious death of 15-year-old Michael Knowles, who was found dead in a cell hanging from a cord while in police custody, caused much political and social hoopla. According to the police, Knowles committed suicide and was being held under suspicion of housebreaking and stealing.

Englerston MP Glenys Hanna Martin nobly attempted to accelerate the investigative process into the death of the teenager, particularly as the case had engendered much public outcry. In her zeal to shine light on the issue, Mrs Hanna Martin - whose inner-city constituency was next door to that of the deceased teen (then St Cecilia) - did not comply with a directive of the Speaker and as a result was “named” and suspended for two sittings. In fact, the issue continues to be suspect.

I met Knowles’ distraught mother, who at that time told me that she “only wants justice” and was seeking scientific confirmation of the reason/s for her son’s demise and an inquest into her son’s death.

Internationally, there have been several highly publicised incidents of police cruelty. In the 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement was plagued by incidents of police brutality, where campaigners were bludgeoned with nightsticks and blackjacks, attacked by police dogs, washed down and pummelled by high powered water hoses, and falsely arrested and racially profiled. However, press exposure of these incidents did lead to public outcry and to more sympathisers joining the cause.

The 1977 death of South African freedom fighter Steve Biko is largely believed to have been caused by the hands of police officers, particularly since Mr Biko played a role in numerous anti-apartheid demonstrations.

Within the last 15 years, the brutal beating of Rodney King (1991) by four white Los Angeles police officers sparked public unrest. When the four officers that were caught on tape were charged and acquitted, the 1992 Los Angeles riots erupted, particularly since many blacks felt that justice had not been served and that they were being disenfranchised. Eventually, Mr King accepted a $3.8m settlement from the city, and the officers were charged in federal court for violation of civil rights (only two were convicted).

Some Bahamian police officers have gained a reputation for bludgeoning citizens and using excessive force, carrying out false arrests, psychological intimidation and expletive-filled verbal assaults.

The lawlessness in local law enforcement is further underscored by accounts of the intensive, cruel interrogation tactics allegedly used to obtain involuntary confessions and that disregard the concept of due process.

I have been told of incidents at the Central Detective Unit’s (CDU) headquarters, where brutal acts were carried out; for example, the alleged use of tasers and other forms of electric shocks such as connecting one end of a vehicle jumper cables to a charged battery and affixing the other end to a subject’s genitals/testicles; placing and tightening plastic bags (bags that fishermen use for fish) over the heads of handcuffed suspects; tying an anchor rope around a suspect’s neck whilst the bag is over their heads and, when the suspect passes out, an oxygen tank is supposedly on standby to revive a suspect; wrapping a cutlass/machete in a sack to prevent external marks/cuts and hitting persons on their shoulder blades and feet; purportedly using a “vice grip” or pliers to squeeze a man’s testicles; allegations of water boarding; supposedly hitting women on their breasts; battering persons with phonebooks or their fists/feet and allegedly placing guns to the forehead or a revolver in the mouths of subjects and playing Russian Roulette, etc. I was informed by these officers that certain interrogators would ask a person in custody a question, then suddenly get up - whilst that person is tied down - and kick them in the chest if they do not accept the answer proffered.

I was told by these officers that many of the alleged beatings in police custody purportedly happen in the briefing room at CDU or in the room that houses the homicide squad.

Instances of police misconduct contradict the concept of due process, where a person is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law, not through the use of blackjacks and extreme force. It is because of cases of brutality and shoddy police work that some evidence is disregarded and some persons, who may well be guilty, are set free. The Attorney General’s office has had numerous cases rejected (after no case to answer submissions or weak evidence at a Preliminary Inquiry) due to false confessions obtained by police coercion or beating and also because of the destruction, contamination and fabrication of evidence in their haste to close a case. Frankly, the callous, extra judicial killing of defenceless suspects and innocent people and the allegations of the inhumane conditions in blood-stained, urine-scented police holding cells should be of grave concern to the Ministry of National Security and the Bahamas as a whole.

In the Bahamas, it appears that from the moment certain young (and old) officers don the uniform they adopt an authoritative, confrontational attitude, riding roughshod as if they are the lone authority over society. But I do not only blame the young officers as there are some unfit, more seasoned officers who are negatively influencing “green”, impressionable entrants and inculcating this aura that police officers are above the law.

An independent commission or civilian review board must be established to investigate the police and restore public confidence, particularly since I believe that internal commissions lack accountability and it is nearly impossible for the police to adequately police themselves. In the wake of the suspicious deaths, the government should hastily enforce the aspect of the Police Act that calls for a board of civilians - appointed by the Governor General and hopefully bipartisan - to oversee all investigations into complaints against police officers. Furthermore, community activists should adopt the approach of the North America-based Copwatch groups that, according to the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia, observe and document police activity while looking for signs of police misconduct and/or police brutality.

Establishing an independent commission and a branch of Copwatch locally would ensure that protection of persons against search and seizures that are not judicially authorised or supported by probable cause or a substantiated suspicion of criminal activity, protect against arbitrary detainment and protect an individual’s legal rights. The Ministry of National Security and the private sector should collaborate in the purchase and installation of CCTV, not just to deter criminals but also to provide visual evidence to confirm or contradict police and other reports, and mount video cameras in police cars. That said, the police must not be handicapped and should be able to employ force when appropriate.

Locally is there a force continuum in place to set the levels of appropriate force in response to someone’s behaviour?

In cases of alleged police brutality, investigators must account for the wall of silence that has pervaded police culture, particularly the failure of an officer to report another police officer’s misconduct in an attempt to honour the officers’ unwritten code of silence. In such cases, those officers must be made aware of their liabilities and the Complaints and Corruption Unit ought to confront those officers who are a part of that criminal subculture without leniency. Any mafia-type code of silence to subvert justice is unacceptable and can only affirm the impression of certain officers as being no more than gangsters in uniform, with a licence to carry a firearm and patrol their old turfs with impunity. The Complaints and Corruption Unit is not independent.

The public must rise up and demand action to ensure transparency and prevent the immediate entombment of the most recent purported police brutality cases among the growing backlog of coroner’s cases. Are there any closed circuit television recordings within the various police stations that could provide footage of those who entered and exited the holding area where the most recent suspects were situated?

If the CDU is capable of recording both interviews on video/audio, why is it that all interviews aren’t mandated to be recorded? Is the unit’s failure to record all interviews a wretched excuse to continue with an archaic interrogative format that often result in suspects alleging police abuse?

Why are suspects being arrested and not afforded the opportunity to contact a lawyer before being interrogated? What about due process?

While I support a no-tolerance approach to enforcing the law, there are numerous people, particularly young men or the underprivileged, that can attest to an air of fright and mistreatment they feel when dealing with local cops. Certain groups of rogue, local officers seem intent on demonstrating their power, conducting themselves like rude, uncouth brutes and often being unpleasant and unsociable, all in their quest for subjugation and control. The police’s job is to protect and serve, and any hooligan-in-uniform found doing otherwise should be fired and/or jailed.

In June 2013, then Acting Coroner Jeanine Weech-Gomez called for cameras to be installed at every police station at the entrance to the cell block area and all interviews with suspects to be recorded in an effort to ensure officers follow proper procedures and prevent police brutality. She also recommended that the surveillance and control of these cameras and recordings be monitored by a separate department at Police Headquarters, or elsewhere, and that police officers receive training in the proper restraining of suspects at least every two to three years.

Her recommendations to the Attorney General’s Office followed a coroner’s jury verdict of “unlawful killing” in the custody death of Aaron Rolle. In May 2013, a jury of four women and one man found that force police officers used against Rolle while in custody was unjustifiable. Rolle, 20, died at the Southern Police Station, hours after he was taken into custody for questioning in connection with an armed robbery and escape.

It was previously report that the Ministry of Legal Affairs was moving to make videotaping of police interviews mandatory in a bid to end brutality claims. Another proactive measure purportedly in that never-ending pipeline was the introduction of notarised witness statements purportedly by Justices of the Peace who would visit the stations. Alas, nothing has happened.

Why are police cars not equipped with dashboard cameras? This does not only protect the average Bahamian from harassment, cruelty and unlawful behaviour but could also protect police officers.

Why is it not mandatory that police officers must now be equipped with body cameras? Let’s modernise the police force. Let’s foster accountability. I can guarantee that the rogue elements will think twice if they know that they are constantly being watched and recorded.

Indeed, there are many in the police force who should attend BahamaHost classes, which would offer a great deal relative to their interaction with people, service and so on.

Police training must be extended by six months. The current examinations given to police officers must be discarded and re-written. We don’t want illiterate officers policing our society. And we certainly don’t want belligerent and/or drunken fools joining the police force all because their MP or a government minister or well-connected church pastor wrote a letter on their behalf.

We must dispel this notion, among many less affluent Bahamians, that justice is an aspect of society that is only afforded to the wealthy or the politically connected.

The issuance of a “use of force continuum” is said to keep the police’s use of force in check by setting the levels of force that appropriately corresponds to a suspect’s behaviour. This is an element of policing that must be explored by the force and the government. Is there one in place?

The robbery of my friends’ store - the second of the night - by the two convicted police officers brings home the severity and the truth of the problem we are facing in the Bahamas. It is so complex and so intertwined with education, decision-making morals and socialisation. This speaks to the amount of work that our society requires as we are socially in a nose dive. We can do it - starting with accountability, demonstrating fairness and the just application of the law to all.

Comments and responses to ajbahama@hotmail.com